gonna be shooting a december wedding in iowa need suggestions for dealing with snow

coggonobrien

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Hi folks booked our first big wedding for december 2011. Issue is it will be in Iowa so planning for snow. The wife and I are working this together with her being the main talent and me just running a secondary camera. Currently she has a nikon d3000, is it worth it to buy a nikon d7000 for use as the primary camera or just buy a nikon d3100.
actually a couple questions. my wife's photography business is starting to boom and 2011 will bring some weddings into the mix. She has no formal photography training but a natural knack for it. go to ashleyobrienphotography.com to see some of her work. with taking wedding pictures there's going to be the obvious low light situations. Are there lenses specificially geared for this or is it more the camera settings. She is currently using a nikon d3000 but we will probably be buying a d7000 by this time next year. Also she has booked a wedding for the first week of December. What does she need to do to compensate for the brightness we will be catching off of snow. Are there filters she should be purchasing? Same goes for outside night photographs to pick up the details of the people while still catching some great starlight.
Thanks,
David
 
Please don't spam the forum with the same question... also the professional gallery is for displaying photos, not for questions, so i have moved this one here.
Someone will more likely give you advice here soon.
 
Luckily it is still 1 year away so she has 1 year to prepare. To be honest with you when I saw her portfolio, I think the portfolio is full of bad shots. I am not sure why she put that many pictures of same family. The were some decent ones, but not many. You want to put only your best shots.

I think it is ridiculous that you guys already booked a wedding and just now ask about low light condition and how to shoot with snow.

About equipment, I think you put too many 0 on there. What you need is a D700 a long with at least 2 fast lenses. You also need a flash. Judging from the portfolio, I dont think she shoots with an external flash.

One year is a long time. You 2 have plenty of time to step up your game. Really understand your camera. Buy more gear. Ask more questions.

Back to your questions. For snow photos, her current camera and lens are probably adequate. Depending on how sunny it is, you probably need a flash. To make sure the snow isnt all blown out (all white with no detail), you have to make your subject darker, thats why you need the flash a lot. For the indoor shots, for sure you will need a flash. To make the photos even better you will need the D700 and a couple more lenses. Good luck!
 
Maybe practice some B&W too.
 
Nobody needs a d700 to photograph a wedding. What they need is a thorough understanding of exposure, composition and lighting control. A fast lens is very helpful. About the only essential would be a flash and the knowledge of how and when to use it. Don't forget a backup plan in case you have an equipment failure.
 
I would get 2 good snow shovels because the entrance to the church may need clearing, also if you are taking on weddings you should know how to deal with the snow
 
Luckily it is still 1 year away so she has 1 year to prepare. To be honest with you when I saw her portfolio, I think the portfolio is full of bad shots. I am not sure why she put that many pictures of same family. The were some decent ones, but not many. You want to put only your best shots.

I think it is ridiculous that you guys already booked a wedding and just now ask about low light condition and how to shoot with snow.

About equipment, I think you put too many 0 on there. What you need is a D700 a long with at least 2 fast lenses. You also need a flash. Judging from the portfolio, I dont think she shoots with an external flash.

One year is a long time. You 2 have plenty of time to step up your game. Really understand your camera. Buy more gear. Ask more questions.

Back to your questions. For snow photos, her current camera and lens are probably adequate. Depending on how sunny it is, you probably need a flash. To make sure the snow isnt all blown out (all white with no detail), you have to make your subject darker, thats why you need the flash a lot. For the indoor shots, for sure you will need a flash. To make the photos even better you will need the D700 and a couple more lenses. Good luck!

as for her site yes i realize it should be 10 best shots per shoot. i just have to update it for her as i work 2 full time jobs and she does as well. as for your opinion on being on being ridiculous don't really care. we got our first blizzard 2 days ago giving us a full snow season plus 9 months to prepare. so I'm not concerned. as for the rest of your advice. thanks,
David
 
Hi folks booked our first big wedding for december 2011. Issue is it will be in Iowa so planning for snow. The wife and I are working this together with her being the main talent and me just running a secondary camera. Currently she has a nikon d3000, is it worth it to buy a nikon d7000 for use as the primary camera or just buy a nikon d3100.
actually a couple questions. my wife's photography business is starting to boom and 2011 will bring some weddings into the mix. She has no formal photography training but a natural knack for it. go to ashleyobrienphotography.com to see some of her work. with taking wedding pictures there's going to be the obvious low light situations. Are there lenses specificially geared for this or is it more the camera settings. She is currently using a nikon d3000 but we will probably be buying a d7000 by this time next year. Also she has booked a wedding for the first week of December. What does she need to do to compensate for the brightness we will be catching off of snow. Are there filters she should be purchasing? Same goes for outside night photographs to pick up the details of the people while still catching some great starlight.
Thanks,
David

" is it worth it to buy a nikon d7000" It is for me but I use a certain technique. If you do not want to use this technique then maybe you don't need the D7000. I have also seen from your site portfolio that you might want to add this technique to your bag of tricks.
The technique: Higher megapixel camera like the D7000 (I'm using D90). with a Tokina 12-24 lens. Take wide angle shots to include a great deal. Crop out the middle couple. The middle couple with the great expression of the guy on the right. The middle couple and the brother and sister on the left etc. You get several compositions all from the same one photo. The higher mega pixle camera will allow 4x6 prints easily from these multiple extractions. A benefit is that many don't know they are included and think you are taking a photo of the other person. They often provide great expressions.

"Are there filters she should be purchasing?" Yes a polaraizer is a must cannot be caught with out filter. Next up but much less often used are ND filters.

"Same goes for outside night photographs to pick up the details of the people while still catching some great starlight." Yes the standard tried and true rear curtain flash. Study and master it for awesome photos as you stated.

"What does she need to do to compensate for the brightness we will be catching off of snow." You need to over expose so the snow turns out white or correct it in PP I PP every photo and do a color cast correction to restore white to white. So I don't choose to over expose but it is an option.
 
Nobody needs a d700 to photograph a wedding. What they need is a thorough understanding of exposure, composition and lighting control. A fast lens is very helpful. About the only essential would be a flash and the knowledge of how and when to use it. Don't forget a backup plan in case you have an equipment failure.

Patrice, I wonder why all seasoned wedding photographers use full frames?
 
sobolik, thank you very much for the advice it is exactly what I am looking for. part of the reason i am asking is that my own personal engagement pictures were taken in snow and to be honest the "professional" artist photographer who has moved onto the modeling world ruined a lot of the snow picture plust about half our of wedding pictures are too dark to be useable. but he knew best if you asked.
 
Hi

I'm not sure if i will be allowed to post this as there is I'm new and this will be my first post and I'm recommending commercial information but we have a tutorial on shooting in snow as well as shooting inside in low light available from our new subscription service at photographycourses.biz (Or a downloadable e-course on shooting weddings).

As someone else commented, best advice would be to get to know your camera, have a back up plan (or equipment - including batteries etc). I tend to shoot weddings with two cameras - a different lense on each so that i don't have to keep swapping.

Really hope everything goes well for you!

Mike
 
I don't think you *need* a D700. I shot my first wedding with a D3000 and I think I did ok for a first wedding...
However, that being said, I did rent a 70-200 2.8 VR lens and a D200 (still crop) and I put a 35 mm on it, so I had two cameras, one with a decent low light zoom, one for the closer shots.

I did not see the photos or the website, so maybe I'm missing something
 
I don't think you *need* a D700. I shot my first wedding with a D3000 and I think I did ok for a first wedding...
However, that being said, I did rent a 70-200 2.8 VR lens and a D200 (still crop) and I put a 35 mm on it, so I had two cameras, one with a decent low light zoom, one for the closer shots.

I did not see the photos or the website, so maybe I'm missing something

I agree. I do rent a 70-200 2.8 VRI to go along with my second body. I would say rent the lens once before the wedding so that yo ucan become familiar with it.
 

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